Dance

For good or bad, cassava (or manioc) is the staple crop throughout the Congo. Cassava is cultivated for it's fleshy tuberous root which can be cooked and eaten like a potato or dried and pounded into flour. The leaves are also prepared in a dish very similar to spinach. Although cassava is easy to grow and readily provides a high calorie diet, it is dreadfully low in protein (<1.5 %).

The process of preparing cassava is long and laborious. The root is first peeled and soaked for several days in running water to leach out naturally occuring cyanide compounds. Then, after drying completely in the sun, the fibrous, starchy root is pounded into flour using large wooden mortars and sifted to yield a fine white powder the consistency of talc.

Luku (cassava bread) is made with cassava flour alone or for improved protein content is mixed with other flours such as yellow corn (most common in our area), millet or sorghum. The flour is boiled briefly in water and then removed from the heat and beaten with a wooden paddle into a stiff ball which has the consistency of pizza dough. Luku is always served with side dishes and although bland tasting, it is very filling.

Here is a collection of various vegetable foods commonly available in central Congo. How many of them can you name? Click on the image for the answers.

We counted 15 different varieties of bananas growing in our area. Here are 6 different types along with a collection of various fruits commonly available in central Congo. How many of them can you name? Click on the image for the answers.

Insects are an important part of the diet and an excellent source of protein. These men are showing off a favorite - palm grubs (larvae of a species of rhinoceros beetle), which are dug out of rotting palm trees. Other insects commonly eaten include termites, caterpillars, grasshoppers, katydids and crickets.

Oil palm trees are very common and the sole source of cooking oil in the area.

Palm nuts grow in large clusters up to a meter (1 yard) across. The palm nut cluster (regime) must be handled very carefully as it is covered with sharp, stiff spines which can easily pierce your hand.

Once the nuts are removed from the regime, they are briefly steamed, and the oily, fibrous husk is removed by pounding in a mortar.

Bright-orange oil, squeezed from the fibrous husk, is delicious, exceedingly rich in vitamin A and ready for use without any further processing. In our area the government, in cooperation with the European-supported palm oil industry, maintained their oil production monopoly by forbidding any mechanized means of oil extraction by the local people. Anyone caught preparing oil by a mechanized process (even for personal use) in any way other than by hand would be subject to imprisonment.

Although not technically a food, it is probably appropriate to mention Cola Nuts in this section. Cola Nut trees are the property of the presiding elder or chief in each village area and traditional law deems it illegal to harm a Cola Nut tree in any way. Cola Nuts are an appropriate gift when visiting an elder or chief and are a traditional stimulant which are commonly chewed, particularly when drinking Palm Wine. They are intensely bitter and are the original source of caffeine and flavoring for the drink Coca Cola.

All images contained within this site are copywrited, and the property of BobWalker. Copying, displaying and redistributing any image on this site without written permission is prohibited.

Here is a collection of various vegetable foods commonly available in central Congo. How many of them can you name? Click on the image for the answers.

We counted 15 different varieties of bananas growing in our area. Here are 6 different types along with a collection of various fruits commonly available in central Congo. How many of them can you name? Click on the image for the answers.

Oil palm trees are very common and the sole source of cooking oil in the area.

Palm nuts grow in large clusters up to a meter (1 yard) across. The palm nut cluster (regime) must be handled very carefully as it is covered with sharp, stiff spines which can easily pierce your hand.

Once the nuts are removed from the regime, they are briefly steamed, and the oily, fibrous husk is removed by pounding in a mortar.

All images contained within this site are copywrited, and the property of BobWalker. Copying, displaying and redistributing any image on this site without written permission is prohibited.

For good or bad, cassava (or manioc) is the staple crop throughout the Congo. Cassava is cultivated for it's fleshy tuberous root which can be cooked and eaten like a potato or dried and pounded into flour. The leaves are also prepared in a dish very similar to spinach. Although cassava is easy to grow and readily provides a high calorie diet, it is dreadfully low in protein (<1.5 %).
The process of preparing cassava is long and laborious. The root is first peeled and soaked for several days in running water to leach out naturally occuring cyanide compounds. Then, after drying completely in the sun, the fibrous, starchy root is pounded into flour using large wooden mortars and sifted to yield a fine white powder the consistency of talc.
Luku (cassava bread) is made with cassava flour alone or for improved protein content is mixed with other flours such as yellow corn (most common in our area), millet or sorghum. The flour is boiled briefly in water and then removed from the heat and beaten with a wooden paddle into a stiff ball which has the consistency of pizza dough. Luku is always served with side dishes and although bland tasting, it is very filling.
Here is a collection of various vegetable foods commonly available in central Congo. How many of them can you name? Click on the image for the answers.
We counted 15 different varieties of bananas growing in our area. Here are 6 different types along with a collection of various fruits commonly available in central Congo. How many of them can you name? Click on the image for the answers.
Insects are an important part of the diet and an excellent source of protein. These men are showing off a favorite - palm grubs (larvae of a species of rhinoceros beetle), which are dug out of rotting palm trees. Other insects commonly eaten include termites, caterpillars, grasshoppers, katydids and crickets.
Oil palm trees are very common and the sole source of cooking oil in the area.
Palm nuts grow in large clusters up to a meter (1 yard) across. The palm nut cluster (regime) must be handled very carefully as it is covered with sharp, stiff spines which can easily pierce your hand.

Once the nuts are removed from the regime, they are briefly steamed, and the oily, fibrous husk is removed by pounding in a mortar.
Bright-orange oil, squeezed from the fibrous husk, is delicious, exceedingly rich in vitamin A and ready for use without any further processing. In our area the government, in cooperation with the European-supported palm oil industry, maintained their oil production monopoly by forbidding any mechanized means of oil extraction by the local people. Anyone caught preparing oil by a mechanized process (even for personal use) in any way other than by hand would be subject to imprisonment.
Although not technically a food, it is probably appropriate to mention Cola Nuts in this section. Cola Nut trees are the property of the presiding elder or chief in each village area and traditional law deems it illegal to harm a Cola Nut tree in any way. Cola Nuts are an appropriate gift when visiting an elder or chief and are a traditional stimulant which are commonly chewed, particularly when drinking Palm Wine. They are intensely bitter and are the original source of caffeine and flavoring for the drink Coca Cola.
All images contained within this site are copywrited, and the property of BobWalker. Copying, displaying and redistributing any image on this site without written permission is prohibited.